Mandan police say they had to use Tasers three times in four days.

Two of the incidents involved a person with a knife refusing to obey police commands, and one involved a person fighting off efforts to put him in a jail cell, said Lt. Paul Leingang.

Leingang said the first incident occurred early Sunday morning in southeast Mandan. A resident reported at 1:45 a.m. that someone was banging on the door and appeared to be trying to gain entry, Leingang said.

He said the person ran when he saw officers, and he was pursued through several yards and over several fences.

The man fell while trying to climb a chain-link fence, and officers noticed he was holding a knife in his mouth, Leingang said.

He said the officers had to use a Taser to get the man to spit the knife out of his mouth. He said the man also is accused of being belligerent with jail staff.

Sheldon McHugh, 19, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, minor in consumption and fleeing a peace officer on foot. He is slated to appear in court again on July 16.

The incident could have been considered a deadly force situation, but officers chose to use a Taser rather than a gun to defuse the situation, Leingang said.

"They used good discretion in being able to take him into custody without anyone getting hurt," Leingang said.

The next incident involving a Taser occurred around 10 p.m. Tuesday. Officers were called to the alley behind the 100 block of Second Avenue Northwest for a report of a possible domestic disturbance, Leingang said.

He said no one was in the alley, but the first responding officer could hear noises coming from an apartment building. He said the officer heard a banging noise, followed by someone yelling, "Open the door. This is the Mandan Police Department, and I have a search warrant."

The officer ordered the man, who was intoxicated, to the ground and placed him under arrest, Leingang said. He said the man was cooperative initially but became threatening as police took him to jail.

The man is accused of threatening to kill the officers while they struggled to place him in an isolation cell at the Morton County Correctional Center, Leingang said.

Officers had to use a Taser to get Aljoe Silk, 34, to comply as they attempted to change him into correctional center clothing, Leingang said.

Silk has been charged with terrorizing, a Class Cfelony, preventing arrest or discharge of other duties, a Class Amisdemeanor, and impersonating an official, a Class A misdemeanor.

South Central District Judge Donald Jorgensen set bond for Silk at $10,000 cash Wednesday at the Morton County Courthouse.

In the third situation involving a Taser, police were called to the 100 block of First Avenue Northeast at 4 a.m. Wednesday for a report of a man who had just left the 200 block of Fourth Avenue Northeast and allegedly was on his way to a home with a knife to confront someone, Leingang said.

He said an officer saw a man in the alley behind the 100 block of First Avenue Northeast and recognized him as the man who was reportedly on his way to the home. The officer turned his high beams on while facing the alley, got out of his squad car and drew his weapon, Leingang said.

He said the man continued walking toward the officer with his fists clenched at his side, and the officer continued telling him to stop. As the man got closer, the officer could not see a knife, so he holstered his gun and pulled out his Taser, Leingang said.

The man continued walking despite the officer's commands to stop, so the officer used the Taser, Leingang said. He said the man was compliant after that and told officers he had tossed his knife in the alley. The knife was not found.

Christopher Cook, 24, has been charged in Mandan Municipal Court with disorderly conduct in that incident.

Leingang said the Tasers allowed officers to defuse potentially dangerous situations without resorting to deadly force. Tasers are a "very good tool for us to have,"he said.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarck-tribune.com.)